14th-Ranked Gauchos Going To Fourth Straight NCAA Tourney

Nov 14, 2005

Nov. 14, 2005

Santa Barbara, Calif. -
The 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's soccer team was selected as an at-large team for the 2005 NCAA Tournament it was announced today. The Gauchos, who will be making their fourth consecutive trip to the postseason tourney, will host San Diego State on Friday, November 18th or Saturday, November 19th in Harder Stadium.

UCSB ended the regular season with a 12-4-3 overall record, finishing second in the Big West Conference. The Aztecs concluded the regular season at 9-3-6, completing their first season as a member of the Pac 10 conference in men's soccer.

Unseeded in this year's tournament, the winner of the UCSB/SDSU match-up goes on to face No. 15 seed Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, November 22nd at 7:00 p.m. at CSUN's Matador Soccer Field.

Last season, the Gauchos were awarded the No. 9 seed and advanced to the National Championship match where they tied Indiana 1-1 after two overtime periods. Santa Barbara lost 3-2 in penalty kicks to end the season as the National Runners-Up.

UCSB is a combined 6-3-0 in NCAA Tournament play dating back to 2002, the first season it qualified for the Big Dance, and it is 3-0-0 in opening round (first or second) matches. The Gauchos topped San Diego 2-0 in the first round of the 2002 tourney, downed Cal 2-0 in the second round of 2003, and beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2-1 in last season's second round, with all three wins coming in Harder Stadium.

Santa Barbara last faced the Aztecs in last year's season-opener, topping SDSU 1-0 in San Diego on a Drew McAthy goal.

The date and time for this weekend's first round match-up is yet to be determined and will be released when finalized.